Kara-Tur Class

[RaiderOne]

Thinking about it a bit more, it could maybe make more sense to make a samurai a 2H user rather than a 2WF variant, since the classic weapons of a samurai would be the yari (spear) or katana (only 1.5 damage on average below a greatsword, going two-handed). Technically, the daikyu (longbow) would also join the list, thought it doesn't make much sense for a MaA build.

+1

A samurai's second sword was not used for TWF like D&D does. Shields were not used, and in comparison to western armour you would class it as medium. Japanese steel at the time was far inferior to western steel (which is why a "longsword" is stronger than a katana despite what mystical Japan will tell you.).

Fitting the typical samurai into a western based D&D is bassically a fighter that loses shields and heavy armour in favour of medium armour and 2-handed stuff. That could be a regular kit that does not need to be a kara tur thermed class. Problem you get is mithral armour and Gish characters just get a free boost.

So I think the ronin type is more suited to the server, and much easier to give mechanics that impact a playstyle. My initial thought would be;

MaA base;
Requires; x language option, exotic weapon prof

Loses: Heavy armour, tower and shield prof - can never gain -
Gains; power attack and Improved power attack
Swap; Heavy armour optimisation to medium
Swap; shield block to something like the weapon defence thing the crusader has

[Scorpius]

with all those TOO nice post... if it really happens... DAISHI is going to be RE RE RE rolled for sure XD

[Scorpius]

being albe to select throut a list of fighting style (weapon type used) would be great also...

some would use spear
other katana / wakizashi (from katana, shortsword, longsword)
other O-Naginata (halberd) / maybe get a tento as fallback weapon (from dagger)
Other Zanbato, breaversword type or Nodachi (from greatsword) / maybe get tento as fallback wpn (from dagger)
other might just want a double wakizashi

and get dart use OR shuriken OR bow (short bow ? maybe) //// user select one of the 3


maybe having some weapon speciality to select from would be nice... that would open the road on different build and playstyle

[RaiderOne]

It's just a 2 handed man at arms option really. There doesn't need to be anything specifically kara tur about it.

[Hawke]

Well, Katanas are in the game... just have that be the "given feat" no other weapons.

Samurai didn't do two weapon fighting. They used a single two handed blade. Whether it was a katana or nodachi (basically a greatsword).

Bows were something of a niche for samurai. It was not used as much as Hollywood would have us believe.

As far as the wakizashi (the second sword the samurai wore) was a last ditch weapon if they were unable to wield their sword for whatever reason, injury, broken weapon, etc. Was also used for "other" events as well. But like the Marine and the Kabar knife, the training on this weapon was more on par as a wizard using a dagger. Their main focus was the sword.

Just my two cents.

I wouldn't mind seeing Kensai or a Samurai class in game.

[Svabodnik]

May be a bit of a mess to give several distinct fighting styles to the samurai, and honestly, the only real class ability of MaA that doesn't match the archetype would be the Shield Block. This could be replaced by similarly stacking Dodge bonus to AC, but only when having a melee weapon equipped (perhaps taken from among a specific list of weapons), which is lost on equipping a shield. End in all, provides the same bonus to AC (though perhaps slightly more resilient vs. touch attacks).

Likewise, the bonus feats list for the kit could be adjusted to fit closer to the vision of the samurai. As a rough example:
> Remove shield-related feats from bonus feats list (Shield Bash, Shield Charge, Shield Slam). Remove weapon oriented feats for dwarven waraxe and scythe.
> Add Combat Focus feats to the bonus feats list (Combat Focus, Combat Vigor, Combat Awareness, Combat Strike). Add weapon oriented feats for spear and longbow.

[Deathgrowl]

But for Ao's sake, don't bring the 1980s Hollywood stereotypes into the RP.

Or the nauceating anime stereotypes, for that matter.

[Evohawk]

I thought I would Bump this post. to see if there is any news on this or if there is or will be any updates for Kara-tur armor for samurais and ninjas. I have found a few in the well maybe just 1 in the nwnvault but I have no clue what that is or what it does for you guys. SOooo yeah just to see whats going on with this if someone gave it a second thought or it died either way would love to hear an update with this

[DaloLorn]

Mmm, I think I like Chambordini's takeaway from all this:

I do like the idea of an alternative MAA progression (kit) that doesn't get bonuses for shields. Still maintaining the challenge and shouts and the whole charisma synergy though.

Siril is no samurai, but he probably would work better as a two-hander...

[Mursey]

Do we really need a samurai class though, or even a kit? Fighter's who focus on 2-Handed weapon use and branch out into Weapon Master (Katana) pretty much capture the fighting style perfectly. Especially with the Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, Whirlwind Attack combo. Add in Cleave, Great Cleave, Power Attack and the like as taste's prefer for a good approximation.

[Balthomer]

The Kensai is basically a weapon master. I think adding a samurai kit for fighters would be good but a kensai class is uneccesary since WM does what PnP Kensai did, a katana weaponmaster works.